The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the governor. The Vermont lieutenant governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state or incapacitated, presiding over the Vermont Senate, casting tie-breaking votes in the Senate when required, and acceding to the governorship in case of a vacancy. As a member of the state senate's Committee on Committees, the lieutenant governor plays a role in determining committee assignments for individual senators, as well as selecting committee chairs, vice chairs, and clerks.Newspaper article, Vermont Senate Committee Assignments Finally Out , by Nancy Remsen, Burlington Free Press, January 7, 2011Permanent Rules of the Vermont Senate, published by Vermont State Senate, 2009 edition, page 4Vermont Constitution, Chapter 2, Article 19, U.S. Constitution Online web site, accessed January 2, 2011

The incumbent lieutenant governor is John S. Rodgers, a Republican who was first elected in 2024.

Election The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected to a two-year term in even-numbered years, as with the governor, but they are elected on separate tickets, and may be from different parties. The most recent lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2024.

When no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the General Assembly holds a contingent election from among the top three vote-getters. In every such election since the election of T. Garry Buckley in 1976, the General Assembly has chosen the candidate who received a plurality of votes, including in the 2024 election.

Mountain rule From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s only Republicans won general elections for Vermont's statewide offices. One method that made this possible was imposition of the "Mountain Rule." Under the provisions of the Mountain Rule, one U.S. Senator was a resident of the east side of the Green Mountains and one resided on the west side, and the governorship and lieutenant governorship alternated between residents of the east and west side. Nominees for governor and lieutenant governor were allowed two one-year terms, and later one two-year term. For nearly 100 years likely Republican candidates for office in Vermont agreed to abide by the Mountain Rule in the interests of party unity.

Several factors led to the eventual weakening of the Mountain Rule, including: the longtime political dispute between the Proctor (conservative) and Aiken-Gibson (liberal) wings of the party; primaries rather than conventions to select nominees; the direct election of U.S. Senators; and several active third parties, including the Progressives, the Prohibition Party, and the Local Option movement. In the 1960s the rise of the Vermont Democratic Party and the construction of Interstate 89 also contributed to the end of the Mountain Rule. Though I-89 is a north–south route, it traverses Vermont from east to west and changed the way Vermonters view how the state is divided.Newspaper article, The Mountain Rule in Vermont, New York Times, February 12, 1895Magazine article, Mountain Rule Revisited, by Samuel B. Hand, Vermont History Magazine, published by Vermont Historical Society, Summer/Fall 2003, pages 139 to 151

Vacancies Vermont has no provision for filling the lieutenant governor's office in the event of a vacancy, and it has been vacant five times. Thomas Chittenden died in August 1797 while serving as governor, and Lieutenant Governor Paul Brigham served until the end of Chittenden's term in October. Brigham, the winner of that year's September election for lieutenant governor, began his new term in October and was succeeded as governor by Isaac Tichenor. In February 1870, Governor Peter T. Washburn died and George Whitman Hendee became governor. The lieutenant governor's office remained vacant until George N. Dale, the winner of that September's election, took office in October. In November 1927, Lieutenant Governor Hollister Jackson died in the Great Vermont Flood of 1927, and the position remained vacant until Stanley C. Wilson took office in January 1929. In January 1950, Governor Ernest W. Gibson Jr. resigned and Harold J. Arthur became governor. The lieutenant governor's office was vacant until Joseph B. Johnson, the winner of the 1950 election, took office in January 1951. In August 1991, Governor Richard A. Snelling died and Howard Dean succeeded him. The lieutenant governorship remained vacant until Snelling's widow Barbara, the winner of the 1992 election, took office in January 1993.

List of lieutenant governors This is a list of lieutenant governors of Vermont in chronological order:, Vermont Secretary of State Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, 2011, Vermont Secretary of State, State Archives and Records Administration, 2011

Vermont Republic # Image Name Party Term Governor(s) served under 1 Joseph Marsh — 1778–1779 Thomas Chittenden 2 Benjamin Carpenter — 1779–1781 Thomas Chittenden 3 Elisha Payne — 1781–1782 Thomas Chittenden 4 Paul Spooner — 1782–1787 Thomas Chittenden 5 Joseph Marsh — 1787–1790 Moses Robinson 6 Peter Olcott — 1790–1791 Thomas Chittenden

State of Vermont # Image Name Party Term Governor(s) served under 1 Peter Olcott — 1791–1794 Thomas Chittenden 2 Jonathan Hunt — 1794–17963Democratic-Republican1796–1813 himselfIsaac Tichenor (F)Israel Smith (D-R)Isaac Tichenor (F)Jonas Galusha (D-R) 4 Federalist 1813–1815 Martin Chittenden (F) 5 Democratic-Republican 1815–1820 Jonas Galusha (D-R) 6 Democratic-Republican 1820–1822 Richard Skinner (D-R)7Democratic-Republican1822–1827Cornelius P. Van Ness (D-R)Ezra Butler (NR) 8 Democratic-Republican 1827–1830 9 National Republican 1830–1831 Samuel C. Crafts (NR) 10 Anti-Masonic 1831–1835 William A. Palmer (A-M) 11 Whig / Anti-Masonic 1835–1836Silas H. Jennison (W) 12 Whig 1836–1841 13 Whig 1841–1843 Charles Paine (W)14Whig1843–1846 John Mattocks (W) William Slade (W) 15 Whig 1846–1848 Horace Eaton (W) 16 Whig 1848–1850 Carlos Coolidge (W) 17 Whig 1850–1852 Charles K. Williams (W) 18 Whig 1852–1853 Erastus Fairbanks (W) 19 Democratic 1853–1854 John S. Robinson (D) 20 Republican 1854–1856 Stephen Royce (R) 21 Republican 1856–1858 Ryland Fletcher (R) 22 Republican 1858–1860 Hiland Hall (R)23Republican1860–1862 Hiland Hall (R) Erastus Fairbanks (R)24Republican / National Union1862–1865 Frederick Holbrook (R) J. Gregory Smith (R) 25 Republican 1865–1867 Paul Dillingham (R) 26 Republican 1867–1869 John B. Page (R) 27 Republican 1869–1870 Peter T. Washburn (R)28Republican1870–1872 George W. Hendee (R) John W. Stewart (R) 29 Republican 1872–1874 Julius Converse (R) 30 Republican 1874–1876 Asahel Peck (R) 31 Republican 1876–1878 Horace Fairbanks (R) 32 Republican 1878–1880 Redfield Proctor (R) 33 Republican 1880–1882 Roswell Farnham (R) 34 Republican 1882–1884 John L. Barstow (R) 35 Republican 1884–1886 Samuel E. Pingree (R) 36 Republican 1886–1888 Ebenezer J. Ormsbee (R) 37 Republican 1888–1890 William P. Dillingham (R) 38 Republican 1890–1892 Carroll S. Page (R) 39 Republican 1892–1894 Levi K. Fuller (R) 40 Republican 1894–1896 Urban A. Woodbury (R) 41 Republican 1896–1898 Josiah Grout (R) 42 Republican 1898–1900 Edward C. Smith (R) 43 Republican 1900–1902 William W. Stickney (R) 44 Republican 1902–1904 John G. McCullough (R) 45 Republican 1904–1906 Charles J. Bell (R) 46 Republican 1906–1908 Fletcher D. Proctor (R) 47 Republican 1908–1910 George H. Prouty (R) 48 Republican 1910–1912 John A. Mead (R) 49 Republican 1912–1915 Allen M. Fletcher (R) 50 Republican 1915–1917 Charles W. Gates (R) 51 Republican 1917–1919 Horace F. Graham (R) 52 Republican 1919–1921 Percival W. Clement (R) 53 Republican 1921–1923 James Hartness (R) 54 Republican 1923–1925 Redfield Proctor Jr. (R) 55 Republican 1925–1927 Franklin S. Billings (R) 56 Republican 1927–1927 John E. Weeks (R) 57 Republican 1929–1931 58 Republican 1931–1933Stanley C. Wilson (R) 59 Republican 1933–1935 60 Republican 1935–1937 Charles Manley Smith (R) 61 Republican 1937–1941 George D. Aiken (R) 62 Republican 1941–1945 William H. Wills (R)63Republican1945–1949 Mortimer R. Proctor (R) Ernest W. Gibson Jr. (R) 64 Republican 1949–1950 65 Republican 1951–1955 Lee E. Emerson (R) 66 Republican 1955–1957Joseph B. Johnson (R) 67 Republican 1957–1959 68 Republican 1959–1961 Robert T. Stafford (R)69Republican1961–1965 F. Ray Keyser Jr. (R) Philip H. Hoff (D) 70 Democratic 1965–1969 71 Republican 1969–1971 Deane C. Davis (R)72Republican1971–1975 Deane C. Davis (R) Thomas P. Salmon (D) 73 Democratic 1975–1977 74 Republican 1977–1979 Richard Snelling (R) 75 Democratic 1979–198376Republican1983–1987 Richard Snelling (R)Madeleine Kunin (D)77Democratic1987–1991Madeleine Kunin (D)Richard Snelling (R) 78 Republican 1993–1997 Howard Dean (D) 79 Democratic 1997–2003 80 Republican 2003–2011 Jim Douglas (R) 81 Republican 2011–2017 Peter Shumlin (D) 82 Progressive–Democratic 2017–2021Phil Scott (R) 83 Molly Gray Democratic 2021–2023 84 Progressive–Democratic 2023–2025 85 John S. Rodgers Republican 2025–present

References

External links Office of Lt. Governor